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Last year, we witnessed one of the worst things ever to happen during theOscars.
No, Im not talking aboutthe Slap.
The Slap probablysavedlast years ceremony, diverting everyones focus to that one specific incident and its fallout.
Such changes were driven by the producers constant, failed attempts to fix the Oscars over the years.
Thats why they experimented with not having hosts, then having three hosts.
Thats why last years tributes looked more like hastily slapped-together TikToks than something you might seeduring the Oscars.
And why the whole thing has felt like such a hot, pandering mess.
As Iargued last year, the Oscars show itself didnt need fixing.
(The Academy as an organization with some ossified attitudes not to mention Hollywood itself.
Now those are different matters.)
And presumably, given how the last one went, there willnotbe another fucking #OscarsCheerMoment.
Will people watch it?
Id like to think so, but who knows?
Its pretty hacky stuff even when theres some truth to it.
But they cant do that this year with a straight face, can they?
Nominating hits is something people have claimed the Oscars needed to do for many years.
The Extra-Terrestrial,Fatal Attraction, Ghost,andTheLord of the Ringsmovies in past decades.
The Oscars have nominated many hits for Best Picture in the past.
They have not, aside from several exceptional outliers, nominatedsequels.
This year, theyve nominated two.
Is this a sea change?
AreJohn Wick 4andMission: Impossible 7shoo-ins for next year?
If theyre great movies, then sure, why not?
(I do wishThe Woman Kingwas in the mix as well.
It would have been fun to see the historical action genre make a triumphant return to the Oscars.)
(For what its worth, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive phenomena.)
But one thing that the Riseborough nomination certainly has done is add some extra drama to awards season.
Then, of course, theres the Slap.
And just because people didnt watch the show doesnt mean they wont talk about it the day after.
All of these factorsshouldmake this years show one of the more popular in recent memory.
This year, it is essentially returning to the old one lets call it Oscars Classic.
Its not a formula that worksdespiteits imperfections.
Its one that worksbecauseof them.
Steven Soderbergh, who helped produce the COVID-hobbled 2021 ceremony,echoed this sentiment recently.
You cannot this year say, Well, they didnt nominate any popular movies!
You cannot say that, Soderbergh opined toRolling Stone.
They dont matter in the same way that they did 20 years ago.
This time, if they fail, they will at least have remained true to themselves.
Anyway, like I said,drama.
